GORDON Brown was last night facing calls to spare Chancellor Alistair Darling as he prepared to reshuffle the Cabinet to shore up his tottering premiership.

Supporters of Mr Darling insisted there was no mood on the Labour backbenches for a change at the Treasury and they warned against a humiliating demotion for the Chancellor. The PM is thought to want to install his old ally, Children’s Secretary Ed Balls, in the Treasury in his shake-up of his ministerial pack which could come as early as today.

However his calculations have been complicated by Mr Darling’s report- ed refusal to accept a move to the Home Office.

Mr Brown is well aware Mr Darling could trigger a run of other ministerial resignations if he was to walk away from the Cabinet – with potentially devastating consequen- ces for his chances of survival at No 10.

Equally, failure to impose his will and move Mr Darling could be seen as a fatal sign of weakness at a time when plotters on the Labour backbenches are thought to be preparing to move against him.

With David Miliband also resisting any attempt to move him from the Foreign Office, the stakes for Mr Brown could not be higher.The calls to keep Mr Darling as Chancellor were led by Labour Party vice chairman Stephen Ladyman who insisted that there was no justification for replacing him.

"He has done a fine job as Chancellor," he told BBC Radio 4’s The World at One.

"He took on a crisis that nobody could see coming. It wasn’t of his making or the Government’s making. He has dealt with it extremely well, he has led the world out of this crisis, so frankly I don’t see any reason for moving him.

"Certainly, I don’t think there is anybody who thinks he deserves to be demoted or humiliated in any way. He has done an excellent job."